2024 Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Championship – Day Six Recap
Two more seeds were ousted by qualifiers at the 2024 Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Championships open singles yesterday (Wednesday). Let’s take a look at what happened on the portable rink with the World Bowls Tour’s Anne Dunwoodie.
NUMBER 7 SEED GOURLAY WINS IN STRAIGHT SETS AGAINST WELSH QUALIFIER DAN SALMON
David Gourlay MBE, delivered a straight sets knock-out blow to Welsh qualifier Dan Salmon in the opening day of Singles play on Day 6 of the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Championships at Potters Resorts, Hopton On Sea, winning 9-3, 7-6.
The first set was level at 3-3 after four ends, but Salmon failed to score again and the Scot wrapped up the set 9-3 with an end in hand.
The score line was tied once again at 3-3 in the second set, this time after five ends, and although both players each scored on two of the last four ends, a treble on the seventh followed by a match winning single of the last saw Gourlay take the result 7-6.
Gourlay, who last won this title at Preston Guild Hall in 1996 against fellow Scot Hugh Duff, comes up against English qualifier Harry Goodwin on Tuesday 16th January at 10am.
Goodwin defeated number 8 seed Wayne Willgress in the first round.
RESULT: David Gourlay MBE (Scot/7) bt Dan Salmon (Wales/9) 9-3, 7-6.
FORMER WORLD SINGLES CHAMPION TAKES HIS FIRST STEP TOWARDS RETAINING THE TITLE
2020 World Open Singles champion Rob Paxton negotiated a second round berth in this year’s IMAGINE CRUISING sponsored event, overcoming Suffolk’s Phillip Last 11-2, 9-7.
Paxton, from the Exonia club in Crediton and seeded 4 on the WBT Ranking List only dropped two singles over the course of the first set and won 11-2.
The second set was a lot more competitive. Tied at 3-3 after four ends, Last, a Street Works Manager whose home indoor club is Ipswich and who first appeared in a WBT World Championship in 2008, added a single on the fifth to take the lead for the first time in the match at 4-3.
However Paxton scored a treble followed by a double, but it was ‘game on’ with Last picking up three shots on the penultimate end to cut the score to 8-7 in Paxton’s favour and leave himself requiring a double to take the match to a shoot-out decider.
But that vital two shot count for Last never materialised on the final end with Paxton holding off the strong challenge to count that set winning single and avert any potential danger of a tie break scenario.
RESULT: Rob Paxton (Eng/4) bt Phillip Last (Eng/Q) 11-2, 9-7.
QUALIFIER DARREN WEIR WINS THE ALL SCOTTISH WORLD OPEN SINGLES CLASH AGAINST DARREN BURNETT
In the First Round battle between the two ‘Darrens’ at the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Singles Championship – victory went to the Carlisle qualifier Darren Weir against bowling legend and multi major title holder Darren Burnett from Arbroath 10-3, 8-13, 2-0 and that result brings the total of qualifiers to knock out a seeded player to three from the opening five matches.
Weir, 24, a Communications Officer with the National Governing Body for outdoor bowls in Scotland and who can boast of winning a host of national indoor titles from an early age, shared a 2-2 score card with Burnett after three ends, but then hit a run on eight shots over the next five ends to open up a 10-2 lead and put the set out of sight with a single to win 10-3 with an end in hand.
The second set was a complete reversal of the first – this time with Burnett – who won this title in 2014 and is ranked 12 on the WBT Ranking List, raising the bar, scoring three lots of full counts over the first six ends and going on to win the set 13-8 to force a best of three end tie break which went Weir’s way 2-0.
Weir will now have to wait until Tuesday 16th January to continue his World Singles campaign – continuing against 2020 champion Rob Paxton who is ranked number 4.
RESULT: Darren Weir (Scot/Qual) bt Darren Burnett (Scot/12) 10-3, 8-13, 2-0.
JAMIE CHESTNEY BECOMES THE FOURTH SEED TO LOSE THEIR OPENING GAME IN THE 2024 WORLD INDOOR SINGLES CAMPAIGN
World ranked number 13 Jamie Chestney became an unwanted statistic when he became the fourth seeded victim to lose from the opening six games in the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Bowls Singles at Potters Resorts.
For the second year in succession, Chestney fell foul to Jon Wilson, who came through the qualifying process for the second year in a row – this time from the Dolphin Club in Poole.
In last year’s championship – Wilson, who wears earphones to highlight ‘Autism Awareness’ beat Scott Edwards on a tie break followed by a 2-0 defeat of Chestney before bowing out to Rob Paxton, and this time round he did the business once more against 37 year old Chestney 8-5, 4-10, 2-0.
Wilson conceded that his running bowls paid off for him against Chestney because he struggled to find a consistent line and length on the rink.
Winning one set apiece, the first end of the tie break saw both players nearest bowls being adjudged to be equidistant from the jack and the end was declared tied
On the second end, Wilson struck with his last bowl to chalk up the first marker and on the third tie break end, drew the shot with his third delivery that stayed in place until the end, to take seal his victory.
His Second Round opponent will be the winner of the match between twice former champion Stewart Anderson and South Africa’s Wayne Roberts which will be contested on Tuesday 16th January in the 7.30 pm time slot.
RESULT: John Wilson (Eng/Q) bt Jamie Chestney (Eng/13) 8-5, 4-10, 2-0.
STEWART ANDERSON GETS THE RESULT AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA’S WAYNE ROBERTS
Number 3 seed Stewart Anderson ventured into the unknown in his opening match of the Imagine Cruising World Indoor Singles at Potters Resorts in the last game of day six against Wayne Roberts from South Africa – a relative unknown on this side of the world and managed to steer a clear road into the second round next week against Jon Wilson (Tuesday 16th January at 7.30pm).
Anderson looked comfortable in the opening set, holding a full house on the opening end but a sensational drive from the 34 year old Springbok, from the Hillcrest club, scattered the head and when the dust settled it was one shot to South Africa – who, although relatively unheard of in the UK has produced gold, silver and bronze results at variety of multi South African Championships.
“First rounds at any WBT event are always notoriously testing” said Anderson his match. “Wayne produced an almighty strike on the first end and from that moment I knew I had to be on my guard. I don’t know him but you can’t under estimate any player who makes it to the starting line up for this events”.
Despite that hiccup, Glasgow based Anderson battled to the opening set 7-5, and from the early exchanges made the running, eventually taking out the second set 8-3 and he now moves forward to a second round match on Tuesday 16th January against Dolphin qualifier Jon Wilson.
Caption: Darren Burnett (left) and Darren Weir
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